Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary has called for Rohit Sharma’s reappointment as the captain of India’s ODI team. The suggestion came after the Men in Blue recently suffered their first-ever home ODI series loss to New Zealand under Shubman Gill’s leadership.

Shubman replaced Rohit as India’s ODI skipper in October last year, but has lost both the ODI series played so far as captain.

Gill made his ODI captaincy debut in Australia, where India lost the three-match series 1-2. He missed the home series against South Africa in November-December 2025 due to a neck injury, and India emerged victorious by a margin of 2-1.

The 26-year-old returned to lead the side in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand at home last week. While India kicked off the series with a win in Vadodara, they lost the next two matches in Rajkot and Indore to concede the series 1-2.

India’s defeat against the second-string Kiwi side drew Shubman Gill a lot of flak. And during a recent interview with InsideSport, Tiwary gave the go-ahead to sack Gill from his position as ODI captain.

“Yes, absolutely. That’s what I’m suggesting because there’s still time to course correct. It’s about the World Cup. It’s not just about a bilateral series or a random tournament we are going to play," Tiwary said.

Tiwary questioned the selectors’ decision to remove Rohit from ODI captaincy even though the latter lead India to Champions Trophy triumph last year.

According to Tiwary, India would not have suffered a defeat against the Black Caps if Rohit was at the helm of affairs.

“What was the need to remove Rohit Sharma from the captaincy? I’m pretty sure that if Rohit were leading even today in the ODIs, it would have been a different result (New Zealand series) altogether. Because when he won the Champions Trophy, I think the team was going forward in the right direction," Tiwary stated.

“Rohit is not a little better than Shubman, but a lot better, currently. That’s why he’s such a successful captain. You can win it (the World Cup) with Shubman’s captaincy, but I’m suggesting comparing the captaincy of both. If Rohit becomes the captain, what is the percentage chance of winning? And if Shubman leads, what is the percentage chance of winning? I think everyone will say that if Rohit is the captain, then there is an 85 to 90 per cent chance of winning the World Cup," he further remarked.